Every morning from my office at the University of Bengkulu, I enjoy the singing of birds from the trees around the buildings. About 20 species of birds live in the campus. A group of monkeys can also be found swinging from one tree to another. I often see squirrels playing on tree branches or electricity cables. Occasionally, when I move from one building to another, I see a dragon lizard (a very large lizard, but smaller than a Komodo), crossing the road.
Apparently, many wild animals can live happily with us as long as we don't kill them. They do not require much space or food. Our backyard, city parks and trees along the roads would suffice to support many small to medium-sized wild animals. Left undisturbed, many of our wild animals would definitely thrive in the remaining natural and secondary forest. Even in plantation areas, some wild animals can exist.
While habitat fragmentation and destruction are serious threats, the fundamental cause of population depletion of wildife is our attitude. Many of us still live in a hunter-gatherer mindset. In every city we can find traditional pet shops selling many species of animals collected from the wild.
In Padang city of West Sumatra, one of my students found in her research that of the 42 species of birds traded, only two came from breeding. The rest were taken from the forest. In villages, many children and adults have rifles or other traditional weapons to kill animals.
Our attitude toward wildlife may result from ignorance rather than a lack of respect toward it. Many of us simply don't realize that when the rate of catching a species is higher than the rate of reproduction, the population of the species will decline and it will eventually be extinct. People do what their parents or friends do.
Some species of wild animals, for example pigs, do survive intensive hunting, but many species don't have the ability to do so. Some bird trappers say they have to spend several days in the forest to trap widely sought-after bird species.
Some people do understand the effect of illegal trade on wildlife species, but continue to do so because of greed. Every year the global trade of wild species is worth US$20 million. The vast majority is illegal.
With the continuous degradation and shrinking of our natural ecosystems, there is only little undisturbed habitat left for the wildlife to thrive. The future existence of our wildlife is under threat unless we take serious measures. The most important is education. From an early age, our children must be trained to respect biodiversity. Education should include ecology as well as philosophy or religion.
Ecologically, each species plays a certain role in the ecosystem. When a species becomes extinct, other species with similar characteristics may substitute its role, and the functioning of the ecosystem is not put at risk. But the omission of many species will definitely affect the balance of nature.
For example, when a natural forest composed of many species of plants and animals is converted into a single species plantation, many harmless insects in the natural forest become voracious pests that destroy crops. Heavy application of pesticide to kill the insects causes pollution in the environment.
Maintaining biodiversity is essential for the existence of humankind. Countless species of plants and animals in natural ecosystems may have pharmaceutical potential that someday could provide medicical scientists with treatments for currently incurable diseases.
The species-rich ecosystems also provide gene banks that could save agricultural crops from pests or disease when there is an outbreak, because the wild relatives of our crop species, usually more resistant to pest and diseases, can be used to create new resistant strains.
Understanding ecology is important in developing an "environmentally correct" paradigm. But it is not enough. There must be a philosophical or religious basis. Since most Indonesians are Muslims and more familiar with religious teaching than philosophy, respect for wildlife must be included in the religion course syllabus as well as in religious messages broadcast through TV, radio and in mosques.
As every Muslim is a vicegerent of God on earth, he or she is responsible for caring for the earth and its inhabitants. Maintaining the functioning of the ecosystem where human and other creatures live is a religious duty and killing other creatures unnecessarily is sinful.
Teaching is fundamental for shaping the mind, but it is only effective if the practices of society reinforce the teaching. The government should play a major role. Hunting, fishing and trading of wildlife must be strictly regulated. Any party committing illegal logging, poaching and trading of wildlife must be severely punished.
Indonesia is blessed with wet tropical climates resulting in biodiversity-rich natural ecosystems. But our precious treasures are depleting due to our ignorance and greed. We cannot afford this great loss. Education and law enforcement are crucial in conserving these treasures.
The writer is head of Forestry Department, School of Agriculture, University of Bengkulu. He can be reached at wiryonogood@yahoo.com
